Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 9

It’s already dinnertime when Yeji arrives back at her apartment building.

After they left the mall, Yeji took Ryujin to her favorite dessert shop and they shared three bowls among them.

As usual, they never seemed to run out of things to talk about and they wouldn’t have realized that they had been sitting there for hours if it wasn’t for a chance encounter with one of Yeji's colleagues.

The colleague apparently knew the manager and was stopping by the shop to greet him on his way to meet his girlfriend for dinner.

Ryujin felt a bit guilty for keeping Yeji out too long so she offered to take her back home immediately.

“Do you want to come up?” asks Yeji after unbuckling her seatbelt with her free hand. Her other hand is holding the teddy bear Ryujin got her.

“You should rest and enjoy the rest of your Sunday though.”

“I’ll be fine. Jisu’s probably not even home yet. You can keep me company until she comes back.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

Ryujin finds a parking spot and walks Yeji up to her apartment.

“At this rate, we’ll be super bored with each other by next week,” she remarks jokingly once they’re in the elevator.

“How so?” asks Yeji.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time together and I think I’ve practically told you everything.”

“I doubt that. There’s still so much you haven’t told me, especially about yourself, personally.”

“Excuse me? I’ve just told you about my traumatically humiliating experience at the Moscow zoo! That’s very personal and I don’t just tell anyone about it,” argues Ryujin.

“Maybe so but for someone who claims that their nearest and dearest are the most important thing in her life, you barely told me anything about the people in your life with the exception of Yuna and the guy you said was the embodiment of chivalry.”

Ryujin keeps her eyes on the elevator panel. “Yuna’s very important to me and that guy was hilarious.”

“What about the others?”

“What others?”

“Other people whose lives you’ve come in contact with, who became precious to you. I want to know more about you, Ryujin. Not just about what you like to do or eat or when your birthday is or what your sleeping habit is. We’ve talked about pretty much everything there is to talk about but never much about you. I want to know your real story. The happy moments, the sad moments… not just the highlights of where you went and what you did. You took the time to teach me to enjoy the journey now tell me about your journey.”

Ryujin looks at Yeji without saying a word, following her out of the elevator when they’ve arrived on her floor then inside her apartment.

“Your father’s not here, right?” she asks jokingly, looking around the quiet apartment. “He’s not gonna jump out from behind the couch and interrogate me, right?”

“No one’s here,” replies Yeji in a serious tone.

Ryujin senses the change of mood and observes Yeji who’s now sitting on the couch, placing the teddy bear next to her while waiting.

She goes to the couch and sits down next to her. “I’m gonna be very honest with you. I’m a bit stupid when it comes to love.”

“What?”